The US will redirect the bulk of its investment in civil surveillance technology next year into the production of devices it can deploy in its war on terror.
The US will have increased its investment in product development by three quarters, suggesting a four-year programme of investment in civil surveillance and counter-terror …

TD?

What a crock of crap ...

Does that mean they'll start pulling people over who're pissed at having having to semi undress to get into the departure lounge or have had various personal articles 'confiscated' by Customs or had their shampoo checked for explosives? Not exactly conducive to relaxation is it? And if gait is sure sign of criminality then I'm a gonner ....

Devices are easier to fool than people

By taking a muscle relaxant and a tranquilizer an hour or so prior to going through a border checkpoint, all of the usual somatic symptoms of stress will be suppressed. There's nothing to be done directly about the (highly inaccurate) databases, but "social engineering" always pays off - it won't be long before the dangerous types get themselves removed from the databases, leaving only the innocent, harassed, and soon highly-irritated ordinary citizens, along with the only-slightly-dangerous-if-annoyed types.

Ah, well. I suppose the programme is keeping the snoops employed, at least.

Money well spent?

I often wonder if a fraction of the billions spent on such 'security measures' (most of which have a large element of BS about them) were spent on reducing poverty and dispare, and improving eductation and health in some of the most troublesome regions of the world, would it not achive a higher level of security?

Re: Money well spent

Governments would rather harass innocent citizens than solve social issues for the very reason outlined by George Orwell in Nineteen Eighty Four:

"How does one man assert power over another? ... By making him suffer. Obedience is not enough... power is inflicting pain and humiliation otherwise you cannot be sure. Power is tearing human minds apart and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing... Power is not a means, it is an end."

It's all about using fear to implement control. A cowed and fearful populace is much easier to control than one which revels in its freedom without fear. The border guards don't really expect the system to work reliably. But it will allow them to create scapegoats whose treatment can then be used to cow the rest of the populace into submission.

As George Orwell also wrote, "If you want a vision of the future... imagine a boot stamping on a human face, forever." This is the future we are facing. And since the majority of people prefer safety to freedom, it is the future that will inevitably come to pass.

Thank goodness I don't have kids. No progeny of mine will be slaves to the New World Order.

Disguise your face..

By wearing a balaclava. If they ask you to take it off refuse on religious grounds. Failing that a fake beard should work - and that will help to keep your nose warm too.

Before travelling I make sure I eat a Phaal the night before, just on the off chance that I do get stopped by customs (and searched). Give 'em hell!

Incidentley, one way to stop cavity abuse is to start cracking one off when customs ask you to drop your pants. Just aplogise and explain to them that it's your natural reaction when your pants come off. In my case I wouldn't be lying.

Wow - I get it - I've seen this guy

I know what they mean. I saw this guy on TV. He looks like an idiot and walks like an ape and I happen to know he's a crim. He's wanted on several continents for criminal application of personal self interest and suchlike.

I'm sure this new technology will easily pick HIM up.

I'm so impressed that world peace and harmony can be so easily restored.